I have grappled with several difficult situations lately across relationships in both my personal and work lives. While I welcome challenges, I have felt especially negatively vulnerable to them in the past month. I have always tended to deal with issues in “black and white” terms which does not necessarily reflect acute wisdom in resolving conflicts in my life’s relationships. That’s the problem I have with relationships. Labels and neatly-packaged descriptors do not do them justice. There is NEVER an easy solution or one-step action plan to reach resolution. In fact, an onion is a good representation of relationships — sometimes smelly and sometimes not, relationships are multi-layered and complex and you continue to peel looking for the core. Oh yea, they also make you cry. But, you still peel, cut, and dice them.
Years ago, I remember volunteering as a cook for Grace’s Memorial Church’s Thanksgiving Dinner for the homeless. I had the unenviable task of peeling and cutting 200 onions. I was dreading this much-needed task. I even envied my buddies carving the large, grotesque, and greasy hams sitting on the next table. I remember standing at that table while my eyes filled with very painful tears. I kept peeling, crying, cutting, wiping my eyes on my sleeve, and chopping until they were huge piles of diced onion in several large bowls. While my eyes returned to normal, I had a true sense of accomplishment looking at those onions. Would I cut them again? Absolutely — what is any good dinner without onions of some sort as an ingredient?
I don’t swear to have all the answers to current problems in my life. I would expect that I will make a career and other changes sometime soon and move forward with my life. I will encounter new relationships along the way that continue to challenge me – but in a constructive way. But, I will learn to cut and dice better and better as I consume onions (and relationships) in my life.
Salad anyone?
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